A Group Of Stahrs

Pop Pop’s visit: part 1

Pop Pop was here for two weeks and we had a fabulous time.  I would like to start with a few pictures from his visit.  I have way too pictures to put into one post so there will be parts to his visit.

We’ll start at the beginning.  First thing’s first, right?  We gotta get the big guy up in the playhouse…

We were in the 90s here (crazy for Colorado, I know) so we had to have some icy treats there too…

We went to a Sky Sox game and had a great time. 

We also celebrated Father’s Day (a week early due to Jeremiah’s work schedule and Pop Pop leaving).  There were lots (and lots and lots and lots!) of home-made paper crafts from the kids…

Silly faces…

This is my new favorite picture of Mazie and her dad.  More to come from Pop Pop’s visit.

Monday Madness!

So I’ve decided to do a little Spring cleaning around here at least in my photo folders and since it was in the 70s for the last few days, except for yesterday when it snowed, rained, hailed.  It’s Spring in Colorado for sure!  It’s time to catch up on our Spring break, now that it’s over and all, and get on with new stuff. 

Our Spring break started with us driving all the way to Williams, AZ to the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel.  It was fabulous.  The hotel and the drive!  The kids are such great travelers.  We had activity bags for each kid and they were busy the entire time, except when they were sleeping!  We made it to Williams with no problems.  We stayed the night and got up early to hop on the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon Village.  The kids were so excited…

The train ride was 2 hours and 45 minutes one way.  There was entertainment.  Larry sang us some Johnny Cash songs…

Before we knew it, we were at the canyon.  Part of our package deal was a bus tour of the south rim.  We hopped onto the bus and were on our way.  It was pretty cloudy out but the canyon was still amazing…

Mazie said that it wasn’t what she was expecting.  She literally thought it was two cliffs that just dropped off with a river at the bottom.  Jamie thought the mountains kind of dropped off like Mazie thought.  Jacob was just all about the little rocks he was allowed to climb…

We were able to get up close and personal with the wildlife…Elk…

and buffalo…

and the raven that was real…

We spent the night at a lodge in the park and woke to this lovely weather in the morning…

Almost everything was closed.  We couldn’t really see anything.  There were reports from people who had hiked to the bottom the day before and stayed camped overnight that it was just raining on the bottom.  About an hour before our train was ready to take us back to Williams, it cleared enough to see the canyon with all the newly fallen snow.  It was just as amazing and totally different at the same time…

Then it was time to go on the train again…

We had some entertainment on the way back too.  Ramblin’ Rosy sang some cool songs…

When we were approaching Williams, we were even held up by some robbers…

The Sheriff was not far behind.  He even stopped to ask Jamie if she was the one cooking for the robbers and helping them on their way.  She politely said, “no” and I was so happy she actually answered!

The drive home seemed a little longer than there but doesn’t it always seem that way?  When I asked what their favorite part was of the whole trip, their answers were…the Food, the Train, and the Canyon.  I will let you decide who said which answer!  It was such a fun trip.  Something we will definitely do again!

Special Friday!

Today Jamie did her presentation on England in front of her class.  She did an awesome job.  She spoke about things she research about the country like their traditions, special holidays, different foods, etc.  Her visual aide was to show the class what an afternoon tea looks like.  So she had her little tea set all set up…

That picture cracks me up because everyone seemed to be enthralled with Jamie’s tea set!  She showed how they held the tea cups and told them why…

She then handed out scones to all the kids and her teacher.  Jamie told me after school that one of her friends said she had the best mom!  That was nice to hear.  She did a great job and was very pleased with herself. 

Today also happens to be a special birthday.  My dad has been visiting since the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.  When he told us that he would be here over his birthday, the girls went to work on figuring out his birthday cake.  They really thought long and hard about what flavor it should be.  Finally lemon cake with lemon icing was the winner.  And so we worked together to figure out the design.  This is what the result was…

A 4 tiered cake (2 inch, 3 inch, 4 inch, and 6 inch rounds) that had some orange on it because that’s Pop Pop’s favorite color.  Oh and don’t forget the sparkler candles!

I was pleased with the outcome and it was yummy!  Jacob kept asking for the bottom layer…for himself !  Happy Birthday Dad.  We love you!

Ten On Tuesday

1.  Today I helped my dad buy Colorado!

2.  Really, he was Christmas shopping for the kids since we are having a Christmas celebration while he is here.  It will be nice for him to see the kids open their gifts from him.

3.  The kids are going to be very happy this weekend. 😉

4.  I am making a lego cake for Mazie’s robotics team tomorrow.  She is having one last meeting to talk about her competition and how the team did over all.  It should be fun!

5.  I am also making a special birthday cake for my dad since he will be here over his birthday.

6.  Did you know that I was born 36 minutes after my dad’s birthday?  Fun little bit of trivia.

7.  Jeremiah is determined to make my birthday cake this year.  Angel Food Cake is tricky here.  I am going to try to not interfere!

8.  I actually got some packages into the mail today!  By “I” I really mean Jeremiah did it on his way home from school.

9.  Jacob has been telling lots of stories lately.  His hand jesters and facial features are absolutely hilarious.

10.  How is December here already?

Happy Tuesday!